Sony becomes just the latest music business to depart Music Row, heightening an identity crisis confronting the 60-year-old stretch of recording studios and dozens of independent music-related businesses. The evolution is happening as country music's audience is bigger than ever, while the industry continues to search for ways to make money as digital disrupts their standard business model.

Sony is moving to a $97 million office building that Eakin Partners is developing. The building is under construction at 1201 Demonbreun St., less than two miles away, inside Interstate 40.

"Adding a hugely known, great-credit tenant like Sony to the mix underscores what a success this building is going to be," said Eakin, chairman and co-founder of Eakin Partners. "Sony and the other lead tenants we have will attract others like them."

Sony is one of country music's most popular labels, and that genre's popularity is surging. Sony becomes the latest music business to depart Music Row. Universal Music Group and Country Music Television are downtown.

So is Sony/ATV Music Publishing, which late last year moved its administration and finance staff to the Fifth Third Center downtown. That is separate from Sony Music Nashville, which consists of three county music labels — Arista Nashville, Columbia Nashville and RCA Nashville — plus Provident Music Group, a Christian label.

"Music Row continues to be fantastic. It's great that music companies can grow outside of Music Row and still be a part of Music Row," Eakin said.

Eakin's building will be 15 stories tall. Sony Music Nashville will occupy all of the 13th floor, which is about 26,000 square feet of space.

The building's signage rights are still available. "Most likely, I feel like that will go to one of several different financial institutions who we're talking with," Eakin said.

Sony is the third publicly announced tenant for Eakin's building. The others are talent agency William Morris Endeavor, which is an existing Eakin tenant, and also the law firm Neal & Harwell, which is relocating from the One Nashville Place tower downtown.

Combined, those three will occupy 30 percent of the 275,000 square feet of top-rated Class A office space in Eakin's building.

A fourth tenant, whom Eakin declined to identify, is occupying another full floor, or another 10 percent of the building's space.

Construction started this month. "People will be typing at their desks by Oct. 1, 2016," Eakin said, which is about two months earlier than originally scheduled.

Eakin said he'd pursued Sony Music Nashville for two years. "We just had an opportunity to make a presentation at just the right time," Eakin said.

Adding to his satisfaction: Eakin can view construction from his office in Roundabout Plaza, another Eakin building, which sits atop the Music Row roundabout.